View full sizeNCAA president Mark Emmert speaks at the annual NCAA convention on Jan. 17.AP/L.M. Otero

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors today all but dismissed the notion that president Mark Emmert was in danger of losing his job.

Following a meeting in which the board discussed ways to reform college athletics, NCAA Executive Committee chair Lou Anna Simon was asked if the board had discussed Emmert's job performance.

She indicated that Emmert had gotten a positive review and called him "integral" to the NCAA's future, but stopped short of declaring his performance a resounding success.

"Mark is an integral part of our process moving forward to strengthen the NCAA and college sports and to ensure our student-athletes and their well-being are at the forefront," Simon said.

"We talked about Phase One, if you might call it that, of what we asked him to do, and many of the things that were part of that were very positively achieved and we're excited about those.

"As we began the evaluation, we were very reflective of what we need to collectively do better, not just Mark, because we're all committed to the NCAA and the success of our student-athletes."

The NCAA has attracted waves of negative attention, from a botched Miami investigation to pushback on heavy sanctions handed down at Penn State to probes of Emmert's past and present job performance.

The cries of hypocrisy have grown louder during Emmert's tenure, most recently over an investigation into whether Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel accepted cash payments in exchange for autographed photos.